When It Rains In Konoha, A Naruto Drabble
by Starlight 156
Summary: Konoha survives easily without rain on most days. But rain, Sakura discovers, like many other essential things, can only be put off for so long. Extremely horrible summary, I know, but it's fairly hard to describe without giving it all away. R&R!


Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing at all, not the village, the characters, or the main series' plot.

* * *

Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, does not receive rain as often as most other villages. The only exceptions of to this are Sunagakure, the Sand Village, and Iwagakure, the Rock Village, both of which are fairly dry and slightly desolate. Unlike these villages, Konoha is directly beside both many lakes and rivers that often flow into these lakes, keeping the village from also being dry. The sources of these rivers are in villages like Amegakure and Kirigakure. However, unlike in Kiri or Ame, when it does rain in Konoha, it does not merely rain. When it rains in Konoha, the sky turns nearly black and buckets of water are dumped out of the sky. When it rains in Konoha, it pours.

* * *

It was that day again. Three years-that's exactly how long it'd been since the day that they came to their first day of training together- the pink-haired girl, the raven-haired avenger, the blond Jinchuriki, and the silver-headed masked man. Of the original four team members, only two now remained in Konoha.

"Sakura-chan, where are you going?" Her mother inquired, looking at her daughter with gentle concern written all over her face. "It's supposed to rain; it wouldn't do to have you get sick, dear."

"I'm just going on a walk, Okaa-san." She stared at the door, concentrating on not crushing the door knob again. "I'll be back as soon as possible."

Sakura walked there alone, to the training grounds. She sat on the ground, in the same spot that she had three years ago, and let her memories run away with her.

_She was entirely focused on him. Nothing else mattered; she was thrilled that she was here, with him, and Ino-pig was stuck with Shikamaru-lazy-butt and Chouji-eats-a lot. The only thing to put a damper on this was the third member of her genin team, Uzumaki Naruto. _

_She hardly heard her sensei's speech. _

"_I'm Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and hate...I don't feel like telling you those. My dreams for the future...never really thought about it. As for my hobbies...I have lots of hobbies."_

_And she only caught the end of Naruto's. _

"_And my dream is to be the greatest Hokage! That way people will stop disrespecting me and treat me like I'm somebody. Somebody great!" _

_But on Sasuke's turn, she really felt herself perk up. It was a relief to turn to him without having to hide the interest in him she felt. _

"_My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I hate everything, and I don't really like anything. What I have is not a dream, because it is about to come true. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone." _

With trembling fingers, she withdrew a small picture. It was a copy of the official Team Seven photo, the same as the one she had on her nightstand at home. This one was smaller, and she carried it with her everywhere. This copy was fading and a bit smeared, but otherwise a perfect miniature of the original.

She realized how foolish she was then. She shouldn't have been so completely focused on Sasuke; it was unfair to both Kakashi-sensei and Naruto. She didn't even like to think about how much time she wasted daydreaming about him then. She still did; she just concentrated on her work so much more.

_Naruto promised he'd bring you back, Sasuke-kun. _She thought at the picture. _And I believe in him. I know that neither of us really believed in him when we were first starting out, but when you left, he changed. It was plain for everyone to see how much he wanted to drag you back by the ear like a naughty academy student._

She missed them. Both of them, she realized. She missed the Uchiha with the black locks and the smirk that could make her heart dance inside of her. And, she thought, she missed the orange wearing, ramen-obsessed, Hokage wannabe. Not seeing either of them for this long made her sad; she missed her friends. More than that, she missed her brothers and the family that they used to be.

She was aware now that her face was damp, and she was aware that it was suddenly difficult to breath. A drop of water appeared on the photo's glossy surface, and then another. She tasted salt in her mouth. She was crying. Not only was she crying; she was sobbing.

She sat there for a while, sobbing at the picture while she sat on the dirty ground. She was soon soaked in her own tears. Being as wet as she was, Sakura didn't even notice when the thick rain began to hammer down on her in fat drops. She cried and until she stopped crying, she would not notice the pounding rain.

But she was not through crying yet, so the pink-haired girl continued to weep in the thick rain, not noticing when the silver-haired masked man put a hand on her shoulder and stood beside her silently white she did.

* * *

As any ninja could tell you, it is against the shinobi rules to cry. Sometimes, however rarely, a shinobi must break this rule. As much as they wish for their opponents to think otherwise, ninja are only people after all. People must allow for all of their emotions, even sadness, and the effects that come with them to survive. Tears are the rain of people: they can be avoided and unneeded at times, but it is better to just like them come and go as they please. Like its shinobi population, Konoha survives without its needed rain more often than average. But at times, the rain must come.

And when it rains in Konoha, it pours.


End file.
